Jace, the Living Guildpact
by Mertiya
Summary: Jace doesn't like dealing with assemblies of the guilds. Especially not when Exava decides it's a perfect time to out him and Ral to everyone. Sequel to Caregiver, companion to Blast of Genius


**Jace, the Living Guildpact**

Jace squinted against the bright lights as he took his place behind the podium and settled his cloak more comfortably about him. Speaking at an assembly of the guilds was not what he preferred to be doing. In fact, he could think of a number of things he'd prefer to be doing, including paper and—he flushed a little guiltily—a certain infuriating lightning mage. Ral was seated with his legs crossed in the middle of the Izzet delegation, just below Niv-Mizzet's head, which was poking in from a balcony.

Jace took a deep breath and glanced around, pleased to see that there was no actual violence going on, though there was some mutual glaring. He cleared his throat and was relieved when most of the guild representatives quieted down and looked at him expectantly.

"Good evening, guildmages and guild leaders," he said. "As you all know, it is my job to ensure that all the guilds cooperate in amicable harmony—"

Exava's loud, gleeful voice interrupted him before he had finished two sentences. "You mean like you cooperate with your Izzet fucktoy?"

Dead silence. Jace felt the rest of his words die in his throat as his eyes slid automatically across the room to the Izzet section. Ral was looking—surprise, surprise—terribly smug, and there was absolutely no way to mistake who the "Izzet fucktoy" in question was. Niv-Mizzet's great head swiveled from Jace to Ral and back again, and Jace felt another sudden wash of panic. The Firemind hadn't known. _How_ had he not known? He must have been the only one on Ravnica who hadn't known!

Jace was forced to reevaluate that thought almost immediately, as a cacophony washed through the hall. Jace, after another moment of stunned silence, tried to restore some semblance of order. "Guild members, please!" he shouted, but one of the Dimir was speaking now as well, the mage's voice running through a litany of the times Jace and Ral had been seen together and what they had been doing at the time. The Dimir accusations were followed by those of a young Azorius arrester, and Jace looked frantically around for Lavinia, but she was nowhere to be seen.

It was Emmara's voice that cut through the growing hubbub, calm and sturdy as the elementals she commanded. "If you are planning on throwing around gore-house gossip, you should at least tell us why we should care," she said almost sternly. Jace could have hugged her.

At least the Firemind's eye was off him currently and fixed somewhat speculatively on Ral.

"This is blatant favoritism!" The speaker was a member of the Simic Combine, a Vedalken biomancer whom Jace had denied a requisition to last week. Jace thought miserably of the piles and piles of requests from Ral he had denied and wondered if any one would believe it.

Niv-Mizzet rumbled, "I can assure you the League has received no special favors." His eyes went back to Ral, who laughed in a way that Jace thought looked slightly nervous.

"Have you met the man?" drawled the unmistakable voice of Teysa Karlov, and the various squabbling members of the guilds fell silent for a moment.

"What?" asked the Vedalken.

"Have you actually _met_ Guildmage Zarek?" Teysa said.

"I—yes—what does that have to do with—"

The Orzhov envoy leaned forward, an amused smile on her face as she continued. "Because, if you have, you ought to realize the League is, if anything, probably losing out on this deal."

Again, Niv-Mizzet's eyes going back and forth. Jace cringed and tried to speak again. "I can assure you that I have never and do not intend to ever favor one guild more or less than any of the oth—"

"This is pure sophistry!" objected one of the Selesnyans.

Aurelia chose that moment to stand, her red hair blazing up in a corona of flame. "Guildpact," she said, seriously. "Is this accusation true?"

Jace wanted to sink through the floor. He'd almost want to simply deny it, but he couldn't be certain Ral would play along if he did. Briefly, he considered planeswalking away, but, while satisfying, it wouldn't really solve anything in the long run. He hung his head. "I—that is—Ral and I—" he began haltingly.

There was blatant disgust on the Simic guildmage's face. Jace could tell he was turning beet red.

"So the boy is human!" called out one of the Gruul shamans, who up till now had been mostly silent. "What's the problem?"

Aurelia's eyes flashed dangerously. "The Guildpact sleeping with a member of a rival guild raises _serious_ questions about his objectivity and—"

"So you'd prefer he was sleeping with one of the Guildless?" Teysa cut in sharply.

"If he's fucking Izzet, he should be fucking everybody!" shouted a voice Jace was horribly afraid was Exava's. He had a sudden vision of being forced to make rounds—glancing over at Ral didn't help either, as by now the lightning mage was having difficulty containing his mirth.

A chuckle made Jace turn and look at the Golgari. Their leader was leaning back with a vaguely amused expression. "I think you are all being slightly unreasonable," the lich lord said. "Your choices seem to be to require the Guildpact to adhere to inhuman restrictions, even on his days off—or to pass him around like a streetwalker, which, by the way, will do nothing in the way of causing him to form emotional attachments to your guilds."

There was a pause. Jace mouthed, _Thank you_, in Jarad's direction.

"He's got a point," said one of the Ledev guardians standing in the Selesnyan area.

"It's still favoritism!" said another.

Aurelia blinked her great, golden eyes. "The real mistake lies in having a person be the Guildpact at all," she said angrily.

Jace swallowed hard. "I didn't plan on this," he answered her quietly. "But it happened, and I am doing my best to be the arbiter of guild law."

"I wonder if it would be possible to unbind the Guildpact from him," said the Simic representative thoughtfully.

"Perhaps if the portion of his mind that houses the Guildpact were—transferred," added someone from the general direction of the Dimir.

Jace opened his mouth to object strenuously, but the Golgari guildmaster, exchanging a glance with Teysa, of all people, beat him to the punch. "Oh, so that's your plan?" he said.

"What?" said Aurelia.

Jarad smiled. "Crack the Guildpact's skull open and when he inevitably dies, the Guildpact dissolves. Crude but not ineffective."

"That—that's not—" stammered the angry Simic mage.

"Oh, I'm sure _you_ had no malice aforethought," Teysa put in smoothly. "The Dimir are very fond of their dupes."

It almost looked as if things might be quieting down, when Aurelia spoke again, her voice getting louder and angrier. "It doesn't matter that he didn't ask for this responsibility. It's still his, and this behavior is completely unacceptable. I motion he be forced to dissolve this illicit romance at once and pledge himself to avoid such entanglements in the future."

That roused Ral. "You absolute cu—" he started, but Jace raised a hand to silence him.

The voice inside his head was screaming at him that if he just—erased a few memories—this whole thing didn't need to have happened. No. That would be wrong. With a sudden rush of pain to his throat, Jace opened his mouth to speak, but, as with the rest of the night, someone else spoke first.

"Considering you ought to have been well aware of the situation, Warleader, I feel you are being somewhat inconsistent," Lavinia's cool voice said firmly.

She had reappeared, breathing slightly heavily, with the rest of the Azorius and was holding a large sheaf of paper. "Here," she said, licking her finger and riffling through it. "Paperwork detailing the adoption of a romantic partner by the Living Guildpact, a signed sworn statement that demonstrates he pledges to maintain neutrality despite it, and the reports of various Azorius observers testifying that his decisions have been unaffected. All of this has, naturally, been available in New Prahv since the inception of the relationship."

Aurelia's face went red, and she closed her mouth with a snap. The wave of overwhelming relief that hit Jace nearly knocked him off his feet, and he had to grab at the podium to steady himself. For a few seconds, he just breathed, until he judged his voice was sufficiently steady to speak. "As you can tell, I am doing my utmost to remain a fair and impartial arbiter," he said shakily. "However, I feel it best that we postpone the rest of this assembly—" preferably forever "—as tensions are clearly running high tonight. Thank you."

He pulled his cloak up over his head and stepped down, then practically raced out into the hallway before anyone could raise another objection. Throwing up a hasty invisibility spell, Jace leaned tiredly against the wall and watched the delegates begin to trickle out.

When Lavinia exited, he managed to grab her by the arm and pull her back into the invisibility as well. Fortunately, she had come out alone, so no one else noticed her sudden disappearance.

"Thank you," Jace said, with heartfelt gratitude.

Lavinia raised an eyebrow at him. "Surely you knew that's what I had gone to fetch?"

Jace opened his mouth. "…um…yes. Of course. I was just—"

She sighed heavily and shook her head. "Really, Jace? Do you ever read _anything_ I give you to sign?"

He blushed. "Well, I try, but there's a lot of it."

She frowned. "You're just lucky I know you're too ethical to play favorites," she said sternly.

Jace looked down shamefacedly. "Thank you again," he said.

"You're welcome." She smiled at him. "I had better be getting back to New Prahv. I'll have to reschedule this assembly." At Jace's stricken look, she waved a hand. "It's fine. I'm used to Exava making my life difficult."

She hurried off, and Jace leaned back against the wall again, his legs still shaky. He shut his eyes, tuning out the rest of the world for a little while.

He was jerked rudely back into the here-and-now by a hand between his legs, cupping and squeezing. He yelped in indignation and opened his eyes to see Ral leaning on the wall beside him. The rest of the hallway was empty.

"How did you even know I was here?" demanded Jace.

"Practice," Ral said succinctly, taking his hand. "Come on, I don't want to be here when the Firemind decides we need to have a little chat."

As he pulled Jace along the hallway, the mindmage asked in frustration and a little awe, "Are you honestly telling me Niv-Mizzet didn't know?"

"I would have thought that was obvious," Ral responded shortly, then glanced back. "Hmmm," he said and shoved Jace to the side, yanking open a random door and precipitating them through. "I think some of the Izzet are looking for me."

"You know, I could just make us invisible. Or we could planeswalk," Jace said, thinking wistfully of setting foot anywhere that wasn't Ravnica for a little while.

Ral snorted. "Where's the fun in that?" he demanded. Then he raised an eyebrow at Jace. "You were going to let Aurelia talk you into—" he paused. Jace could see him trying to think of a way to phrase 'breaking up with me' in such a way as to avoid the implicit 'being together'.

After a minute, Jace took pity on him. "It's just—she was right," he said wretchedly. "I am the Guildpact. I'm supposed to be impartial. I'm supposed to—" He broke off. Ral was sniggering again. "What's so funny?"

"If you tie me up, would that be _legally binding_?"

"Wh-what?"

"You're a document. A legal contract."

"Ral, that isn't the point. The point is—"

"Would you like to check my balances?"

"Ral—"

"Can I habeus your corpus? I'm afraid you've had an undue influence on me. Would you consider violating the terms of my agreement? If you are a contract, can I—_breach_ you?"

Jace groaned. "Are we really doing this right now?"

Ral shrugged. "You're the one who brought it up."

"No, I was just—"

Ral snapped his fingers. "Of course! It's my fault. I should have signed you _before_ dating you!" Jace put a hand on his forehead as Ral leaned closer to him. "Perhaps you'd care to rake my back with your clause?"

Jace groaned and frowned. "All right, I get it, I'm—"

The Izzet guildmage leaned forward until their noses were touching. "You have the sexiest legislative body I've ever seen," he breathed seductively.

Jace gave up. "That's it," he snapped. "Bend over."

Ral cackled like a maniac as Jace reached for his belt. "Why, Guildpact," he said, his breath hitching up. "Are you planning to insert a large disclaimer into—"

Jace kissed him through a growl and backed him up against the desk, yanking his trousers down and off after palming the little bottle Ral always kept hanging from his belt. Ral groaned, leaning back against the desk, as Jace's hand found its way between his legs.

"Turn around," Jace ordered, his voice smooth and low, and he watched almost in astonishment as Ral actually complied. Ral's sides were smooth beneath his hands and the back of his neck was damp with sweat as Jace nibbled at it, tasting salt.

Applying a liberal quantity of lubrication to his forefingers, Jace slowly felt across Ral's back as he continued to mouth against Ral's neck. Ral's legs were trembling, but so far the Izzet mage hadn't made a sound. The two of them sighed in unison as Jace slid a finger inside Ral and began to move it somewhat energetically.

Ral groaned loudly, pushing back against him. "Come on, Guildpact," he said between breaths. "Aren't you angry? Don't I need to be punished?"

Jace paused for a heartbeat, then bit down on Ral's neck in eagerness as an idea sprang to mind. He shucked his trousers off quickly and coated himself in slippery grease. Nudging gently at Ral's entrance drew a strangled noise from both of them. "Come on, Guildpact," Ral pleaded urgently. "Why aren't you fucking me yet?"

Jace tried to respond, but all that came out at first was, "Aghha," and he had to pause and wait for his vocal cords to untangle themselves. Shuddering, he pressed inside Ral, as slowly as possible, then reached for his shaft with one trembling hand.

"Oh, Ral," he murmured in the lightning mage's ear. "Are you really expecting me to be rough with you as _punishment_?" Slowly, deliberately, his breath coming in soft little sobs, he slid out and back in. Nibbling gently on Ral's ear, he continued, "I'm not going to fuck you, Ral. I'm going to make love to you." His hand brushed gently over Ral's twitching member.

Ral gave vent to a breathless growl. "Damn it, Guildpact, you wouldn—guh—"

"Ah—are you really saying this isn't a better punishment?" It was all Jace could do to keep moving at such an exquisitely slow pace. He moaned softly against Ral's shoulder, slid his hand up and down Ral's shaft, and then, taking a deep breath, slid into Ral's mind.

Sizzling lightning was waiting for him. Crackling sparks played across him, and he caught at them with both hands, even though his hands were still clutching at Ral's hips. Jolt after stunning jolt ran through Jace, but he let them play across him, shuddering, reached for a particular spot in Ral's mind—and the Izzet mage actually howled.

The slick heat of Ral around him drew a soft cry from Jace's throat as well.

"Damn it," his lover choked, as Jace drew his tongue across his back, eased his way out and back in. "Damn it, Jace—please—_please_—nga—"

"Oh, you're begging now?" Jace murmured, licking at Ral's ear, tugging at his erection. He was shuddering with lust and heat, tasting Ral and lightly running one hand down the Izzet mage's trembling stomach. The fine hairs were sweat-soaked and soft to the touch.

"I never be—" Jace butterflyed his fingers over the side of Ral's shaft. "—eeeeg. All right, I'm begging."

Jace nibbled his way across Ral's shoulder and back up to his ear. "Surely you can—haah—climax like this, Zarek?"

Ral made an indescribable noise. Jace could feel the reins of his mind straining against his control. Little sparks burst along Ral's back, sending pinprick jolts of ecstacy through the entirety of Jace's being.

"You're not letting me—oh Krokt—Jace—" whined Ral.

Jace gasped and licked his lips, still moving in Ral's warmth, keening softly through his throat. "I'll let you on one condition," he whispered, tightening the hand about Ral's shaft just enough to elicit a high, desperate noise from Ral, who rutted desperately into his hand.

"What—condition?"

"Do you love me?" Jace asked amusedly.

There was silence. "Don't you know the answer to that?" Ral snapped after a moment.

"I want," said Jace carefully, punctuating each phrase with a lazy thrust, "to hear you tell me the answer, Guildmage Zarek."

"No. Absolutely no—ungh, dammit, Jace!"

Red and blue mana were flowing freely now through the conduit Jace had opened, heat and sparks and Ral all tangling together inside Jace and around him. He whimpered, unable to stop himself, but managed to hold onto the storm, keeping it trapped and contained in his mind."

"Fine," Ral groaned after another minute. "Krokt, you're evil, Guildpact."

"I—ngh—learned from the best," Jace managed.

"_Yes_, I love you," growled Ral, voice louder than Jace suspected he had intended it, and the Guildpact let go.

The climax hit them both hard, a storm that crashed through Ral and dragged Jace blissfully, helplessly after, a crackling, overwhelming torrent. The only anchor was Ral's hand in his.

Jace slumped, sticky and sleepy, against Ral's back. "I love you, too," he whispered into Ral's ear. The Izzet mage grunted in irritation.

"Prick," he muttered.

"Oh, like you've never done this."

"I never said I played fair." Ral rolled over, dislodging Jace, who looked around to locate his trousers.

"Everyone has probably left by now," he said. "Are you going to need a place to hide for a few days?"

"Oh, I can handle the lizard," Ral said airily. "I might have to bother you with some real proposals for a few days, but I'm sure it will be fine." He was slowly pulling back on his own clothes. Impetuously, Jace leaned forward and kissed his cheek before he could pull away, then headed for the door. He stepped out, intending to check if the coast was clear—and came face-to-face with a smirking Teysa Karlov.

"Have you two quite finished with my office?" she asked.

"Um," said Jace. He could feel himself turning red. "Y-yes, thank you. I hope we didn't inconvenience you?"

"Oh, no," Teysa said smoothly. "I heard some _very_ enlightening things. I'm sure I'll be seeing you, Guildpact."

"Of—of course," Jace stammered, then strode off down the hallway. Ral could just catch up with him. He didn't feel like looking at Teysa's knowing grin anymore.

He was halfway down the hall when he heard Ral's outraged voice shout, "You want _how _much?"

Jace glanced back, stifled a smile at the sight of his enraged lover bartering with the Orzhov extortionist, and walked on.


End file.
